I’m a pretty rotten blog host. I picked up on that a little while ago when I got a “miss you” email from one of you guys, wishing me well on my future. Then I realized it has been almost a week since I’ve posted anything, which is close to being as long as I’ve ever been away from this little corner of the interwebs.

Do I feel like a heel? Yes, I do.

But not totally.

I’ve been busting my butt for the the past couple of weeks, learning my new gig, picking up technology and tools (both hardware and software), doing some recruiting, and working with experts to get “things” to a certain level, all of which must be done before I can tell you what I’m doing now (which I think you’ll dig).

Confused yet? Hang in there a while longer. I think you’re going to find it all quite cool when it all comes together.

I will note the attempted murderer died after having various parts of his anatomy slammed against the concrete much as Miami-based thug Trayvon Martin attempted against George Zimmerman, before Zimmerman permanently ended Martin’s criminal career.

The more I look at the declining state of the nation, the more the cautionary ideas espoused in A Failure of Civility make sense. Far from the “head for the hills” mentality of some survivalists, Garand and Lawson push for sheltering in place as a community, establishing what they call “Neighborhood Protection Plans” (NPP) to protect the areas where you live when things go sideways.

I read a report this morning about a bunch of craven Oakland residents buying armed security to patrol their increasing violent neighborhood, and think they rather miss the point:

Gunfire has become so common on the streets of Oakland, California — that even in neighborhoods that once seemed immune to the city’s violence, residents are no longer shocked.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, another shooting,'” said Jan Hetherington, who has lived for 14 years in the Oakland neighborhood of Maxwell Park. It’s a place with glorious views across San Francisco Bay, neat houses and friendly neighbors.

“This is the most wonderful neighborhood I’ve ever lived in,” she said. Yet she acknowledged she has to bring in private security to feel safe.

With budget cuts forcing Oakland to trim its police force by a third, residents decided to pay themselves for private security patrols, which is understandable when you hear this from Hetherington.

“A car came down the street, three guys got out with a gun. There was a gun battle three blocks over. And I did hear actually a bullet went through somebody’s house.”

Who do you think is going to provide real security for you, Ms. Hetherington? A rent-a-cop that works at or near minimum wage with no proverbial “skin in the game,” or yourself, along with other concerned neighbors, putting forth the effort to come together to form a plan of mutual support?

The more I read AFOC, the more it just makes sense. I know one of my neighbor’s bought a copy on his own, and I’ve given away two other copies. Once folks have had a chance to read it, I think we’re going to need to hold a meeting and get our own NPP rolling.

Outside of my personal experience, I know several of you have purchased copies of the book.